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Eni muscles out competition for Angola block 15
Pam Boschee
Pam Boschee, International Editor
Eni blew all competitors out of the deep water with its bid of $902 million and an offer to pay a signature bonus of $150 million for the relinquished portion of Angola’s block 15 at Sonangol’s recent offshore lease sale. Already a player in the block’s Kizomba area, Eni intends to expand its presence, and it’s willing to pay for it.

Other bids, seemingly small in comparison, were: Sinopec, $750 million; Total, $560 million; Petrobras, $265 million; and Statoil, $254 million.

Sonangol conducted a public opening of sealed tenders for five offshore blocks - 1, 5, 6, 26, and the relinquished portion of block 15. Each block attracted proposals. The opening of the tenders was held in Luanda on April 3 and was the first public opening ceremony in the oil sector in Angola since its independence in 1975.

A total of 20 companies submitted proposals for participation in the blocks. All blocks drew higher signature bonus figures than seen elsewhere in recent years.

The portion of block 15, located 370 km northwest of Luanda, was relinquished by ExxonMobil. Sonangol says proven reserves are estimated at over 3.5 Bbbl and 1.2 Bbbl of remaining potential.

Eni bulks up E&P
Eni’s bidding power springs from its record profits in 2005 of $10.6 billion. The company has targeted its hydrocarbon production to exceed 2 MMboe/d by 2009, with 4% average annual growth from 2005 to 2009. It aims to achieve this via its interests in North and West Africa and the Caspian region.

The company plans to spend $42.6 billion in 2006-2009, two-thirds of which will be devoted to E&P.